RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS The whole bedy counting data indicate that previous estimates of the type of food and amount of various components in the Bikini diet did not adequately describe the dietary patterns that existed between 1974 and 1978. As certain local food crops, coconuts, became available in 1976, they were incorporated into the diet in the form of jekaru (the water sap of the coconut tree), jekomai (a syrup con- centrate make from jekaru) and waini (drinking coconuts). The maturation time of the coconute’tree is 5-7 years. expect to observe a steady increase in the 137 Consequently, one would Cs body burden through 1978 at which time an equilibrium body burden would be reached. Conm- parison of the observed reduction in the 137 Cs body burden from April 25, 1978 to January 24, 1979 with the expected reduction in the body burdens from September 1, 1978 to January 24, 1979 yields almost iden~ tical results for the adult male and adult female groups as shown in Table 8. This implies that the Bikini population was at equilibrium and that the body burdens on September 1, 1978 were not significantly different than those measured in April 1978. The child data do not agree with the expected value; however, the difference is not beyond the range of half-times listed in NCRP Report 52 (NCRP 77). Although NCRP Report 52 lists a mean half-time for children ages 5 through 15, it does not specify the age distribution of the sample. Most of the Bikini children (9) were in the 5-10 year category; hence, one would expect the observed reduction factor for this group to be somewhat higher than the expected value.